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This year is the 60th anniversary of Blancpain's legendary Fifty Fathoms dive watch collection, but at Basel World we caught sight of something completely different from the brand. The Collection Le Brassus Tourbillon Carrousel takes the aesthetic of the Villeret collection and adds two rotating escapements, a tourbillon at 12 o'clock and a carrousel at 6 o'clock. Not only is the watch captivating to look at, but it also gets more and more fascinating as you begin to notice all the little things that make it exceptional. Click through for full details as well as video of the Tourbillon Carrousel in action.

Imagine getting to test two state-of-the-art, hand-crafted machines together, on the same track, on the same day. I was fortunate enough to be given the keys to Lamborghini's new 700 horsepower Aventador Roadster during its global launch in Miami, along with a watch designed specifically for this purpose - Blancpain's incredible new split-seconds, fly-back chronograph with big date. In this special review, I break down both this new supercar and this impressive new watch in detail. We also talk to Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winklemann about the connection. Click through for a lot of fun.

Despite what you might assume, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms can be considered the original modern dive watch. To pay homage to this classic, Blancpain released the Tribute to Fifty Fathoms Aqua Lung, a modern update keeping the original design features of the original Fifty Fathoms Aqua Lung. Today we go hands-on with this fitting tribute.

If you're a fan of dive watches, then you're about to meet the ultimate. The Blancpain X Fathoms is a limited production piece that clocks in at 55mm in diameter, and 24mm thick, but it's also the most bad-ass, completely insane mechanical tool watch on earth. Today, we go hands-on with this beast.

Blancpain has taken their usually quiet Villeret and and turned the volume up with the Inverted Movement. We're used to seeing movements through sapphire case backs, but showing its movement through the front, the Inverted Movement is a different animal entirely. The result is certainly noteworthy, and here are some of our thoughts.

The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms is one of those watches that is revered by all vintage watch fans. Hell, even their boxes sell for over $1300 these days. It was one of, if not the, very first dedicated dive watches, and its story rather dramatic (click here for that).
The Fifty Fathoms has seen a host of different variations throughout
its life, but none more iconic than that with the "No Radiation" dial.

This is perhaps one of the stranger posts we have done on HODINKEE, but it is for something in the vintage watch world that is rarely, if ever seen: an original Blancpain Fifty Fathoms box.

As you know, we love vintage Blancpain diving watches, and they have skyrocketed in value the last couple years. So, finding original box of these 1950s divers (like one that came with this new old stock Blancpain Aqua Lung) is nearly impossible, perhaps because of their very simple, disposable nature. This one is currently on eBay and will be ending soon, available here.

And another bit of trivia for you. The strap that was often originally on these Blancpains was an Apollo Tropic strap that you can see for sale here. It is always interesting to learn what kind of packaging, materials, and straps originally accompanied the vintage watches that we prize today.

Sure, it's not techinically a watch, but something tells us nobody is going to argue that this 1930s Cartier moneyclip doesn't deserve a spotlight. Made of sterling silver with swiveling clock case, this moneyclip from Cartier is a prime example of what this brand was about back then - pure art deco elegance. The blue enamel work on the case is particularly beautiful, especially in bright light.

These 1930s Cartier moneyclips are very rare, and in fact only two have been sold at auction in the past ten years. One of them, in gold with black enamel, sold at Antiquorum in May 2009 for $6600. The second, in sterling silver like this one, but again with black enamel, sold at Christies in June 2009 for $9375. What is interesting is that both of these example used relatively "no name" watch movement suppliers (Normis & Perry, respectively) while the example shown in our photograph uses a Blancpain movement. All of these money clips were made for the American market and are highly sought after.

Click through for more images of this 1930s Cartier moneyclip with swiveling Blancpain clock.

The Power Reserve Is In the Rear, On the RotorWe're all familiar with the power-reserve display and the many forms in which it takes shape on the dial. Many watches display the reserve via small hand tracking round a gauge, some have even moved the display to the back of the movement, visible only when taken off the wrist. Blancpain has taken a markedly different approach to the power reserve in their L-Evolution Tourbillon model, a watch that sees the power-reserve indicator built into the oscillating weight.

Patented in 2007, Blancpain has been engineering this feat in present form for more than 2 years. Development overcame many obstacles and required a complete re-think of the gearing usually involved in constructing a power-reserve. This unusual approach takes shape within the oscillating weight of the caliber 4225G making its home in the L-Evolution Tourbillon Large Date model.

The first and most obvious advantage is space saved on the dial side, giving all the attention to the prominent cut-away featuring a flying tourbillon, and the large date display at six o'clock. The second advantage, well, is it's really fun to look at (see video) - the indicator needle swinging around playfully with the automatic rotor.

The L-Evolution Tourbillon will be available in satin-brushed white or red gold casings held on by a rubber-lined alligator leather strap.

The FSC Corvus Bradley Watch Is An Authentic Recreation of a ClassicLast week, we gave you a brief history of the legendary Blancpain 50 Fathoms dive watch, and even showed you some of the earliest examples on this here earth. Vintage 50 Fathoms are available, but if you can find an early example that's remotely affordable, chances are you won't want to take the half-century old watch diving any time soon.

Enter The Corvus Bradley Watch. Corvus has made a name for itself by recreating some of this country's most famous military pieces, but this isn't really an homage in the traditional sense of the word. In fact, Corvus makes a point of acquiring the original military specs, and produces each watch to the exact same standards, improving the production in certain cases. The Bradley watch, for example, was built to U.S. Navy specification MIL-W-22716A.

This particular Corvus Bradley watch is made exclusively for Freemans Sporting Club here in NYC. It is similar to the Bradley watch sold by Corvus, but its Kolsterised case has been coated with PVD, a date window has been added, and the luminescent compound has been upgraded.

Each Watch Comes with a Horween Leather NATO Strap & A Rubber Diving StrapThe watch already features a double AR coated sapphire crystal, water resistance to 300m, a 60-click sapphire insert bezel, an ETA 2824-2 movement (adjusted to six positions in the US), and a double-gasket screw down crown. This thing is tough.

Only 50 of these FSC Corvus Bradley Watches will be produced, with 25 reserved for FSC boutiques and the remaining for the Corvus website. The watches purchased at Freemans come with not only a rubber diving strap, but also a beautiful Horween leather NATO strap specifically designed for this watch.

Each Corvus Bradley Watch for Freemans Sporting Club retails for $1,750, and more details may be found here. But, be warned, because when we went into the FSC on Bleecker a few weeks back, half of the watches had already sold.

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Friday March 3, 2012

HODINKEE is one of the most widely read wristwatch publications in the world. Launched in 2008 by then 25-year-old Benjamin Clymer, the site quickly gained notoriety for earnest looks at some of the industry’s most interesting, and occasionally forgotten timepieces.